Interfaith Holiday Celebrations
Santa never visited my house when I was a little girl.
It’s not because I was on the naughty list. (Well, I was naughty sometimes, but that’s not why Santa didn’t come.) Santa and his reindeer didn’t visit my house with a big sack of presents because my family didn’t celebrate Christmas. We didn’t celebrate it as a religious holiday, nor did we participate in any of the more secular activities – so no tree in our living room, no Christmas lights strung on our house, no gingerbread cookies baking in the oven, and no photos with Santa at the mall.
All these things sounded magical to me, but I never really felt like I was missing out. My parents and extended family embraced our rich heritage and taught me about the wonders of my own wintertime holiday – Hanukkah. We ate crispy potato pancakes and played dreidel with M&Ms or chocolate coins (gelt). Plus we had 8 whole nights of presents, while Christmas only lasted for one day.
Still, when I married someone who celebrated Christmas, I was thrilled to have the chance to do some of the things I didn’t get to do as a kid. As soon as we had a house of our own, I insisted on getting a real Christmas tree. I begged my husband to hang lights on our house. We made a big Christmas breakfast for my in-laws. We also lit a menorah, exchanged Hanukkah gifts, and learned (through trial and error) how to make delicious latkes.
Making Our Own Family Traditions
Once we had children of our own, we really began to establish our family’s interfaith holiday traditions. Every year, we celebrate Hanukkah by lighting a menorah and saying the traditional blessings. My 8 year old can say the blessings in Hebrew, and this year she began teaching her 5 year old sister to say them too. I visit both girls’ classes and share the story of Hanukkah with their classmates. I bring jelly donuts or homemade latkes for their friends to try and send each child home with a dreidel of their own.
We also buy a Christmas tree, which we decorate with mostly homemade ornaments. I’ve saved just about every ornament that the girls have ever made, and we have fun reminiscing each year as we unpack them. We leave cookies and milk for Santa, set carrots in the backyard for the reindeer, and eagerly await the arrival of Snowflake, our beloved Elf on the Shelf. We also bake gingerbread cookies in Christmas and Hanukkah shapes.
Our Christmas tree sits on a Hanukkah tablecloth, and huge piles of gifts wrapped in Hanukkah paper appear underneath the tree, courtesy of their grandparents. My lucky kids get 8 gifts apiece for Hanukkah, plus a whole bunch more on Christmas morning. We also “adopt” a child for whom we buy Christmas gifts and open our home to all of our friends and family for a big Christmas dinner, practicing the tradition of tzedakah, or charity.
I want to take this time to thank you from the bottom of my heart for supporting my blog. This holiday season has been a whirlwind, and I’m so excited to see what 2014 brings. However you celebrate the winter holidays, I hope they are joyous and filled with love.
Kandi says
I love how you guys handle it! We are similar. I grew up celebrating Christmas (Santa and all) while my husband (who is a Christian) celebrated Hannakuh so we do both as well. We celebrate Hannakuh with his family and Christmas with mine. We also do our own candle lighting in our home. For Christmas we do a tree but all presents come from my husband and I. I feel doing both has made my kids open to the differences that people have.
sharon says
I agree! I like teaching my kids that everyone is different. I grew up as a tiny minority and saw firsthand that children often think that everyone is just like them. Kids don’t know any better unless they have the opportunity to learn & observe it. Just my opinion. 🙂
jillconyers says
What a wonderful way to celebrate and making it work for your family.
sharon says
Thanks! It’s been a process of trial & error, but it’s all been fun. 🙂
Jenny Hodges says
I love how you are embracing both traditions! We are a secular family and celebrate Christmas though we don’t believe in Santa, though we do have an Elf on the Shelf, but the kids know that it’s me that moves him.
sharon says
My kids believe in Santa and think the Elf on the Shelf is real. I love giving them the experience, but I’m a little nervous about how to handle it when the questions start coming – because I never had the experience of asking those questions myself. I don’t think I ever believed that Santa was real. He was just sort of a non-entity, you know?
Brianne says
I think at one point I thought Santa was real, but I knew that he didn’t come to my house. I remember saying to Mom one day, “Santa is your parents, isn’t it?” She told me the truth, but told me not to tell my friends. I’m pretty sure I kept the secret.
sharon says
Yeah, I kept the secret too. It just never seemed like a big deal to me either way.
Elisebet says
That’s neat how you’re combining both! I didn’t celebrate Christmas either growing up. We are Christians, but my parents viewed it as a secular holiday. As an adult though, my husband and I have a tree and presents for our son. I don’t think Christmas is a BIG DEAL to me like it is to others, maybe because how I was raised, but I do look forward to starting some traditions with my own children.
sharon says
I think it took my parents a little while to adjust to their daughter celebrating Christmas, but now they come over for Christmas dinner and have a great time. I really do love sharing the excitement and magic of the season with my kids.